Indiana Public Media News

Feds Raid Outlaws Motorcycle Clubs Across State

Posted July 11, 2012

Law enforcement confiscated thousands of dollars, guns and cocaine in the raids.

Photo: Mark Hobbs(Flickr)

An Outlaws member riding in England. The Outlaws have chapters across the world, including several in the United Kingdom.

More than 300 federal, state and local law enforcement officers raided more than a dozen locations across the state Wednesday belonging to the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

42 members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club – referred to by the U.S. Attorney as an international criminal organization – were arrested. Charges range from extortion, wire fraud, drug dealing, illegal gambling, racketeering and witness tampering. Wednesday’s raids occurred in communities around Indiana as well as Illinois, Ohio and Michigan.

U.S. Attorney Joseph Hogsett says the Outlaws operation was as sophisticated and extensive as any business in the state.

“They trade in an inventory of drugs, guns and violence and this morning, I am pleased to say, that that business was closed for good,” Hogsett says.

Brad Blackington, the government’s lead prosecutor in the case, says the 43 people arrested and charged were not merely street-level criminals.

“There were prescription drugs that were being diverted from the IU Medical Center,” Blackington says. “There were millionaires involved in soliciting extortions.”

Blackington says the investigation also helped penetrate a Mexican drug cartel. And Hogsett says at least 35 guns, $14,000 and a kilogram of cocaine have been seized in the raids.

Brandon Smith has previously worked as a reporter and anchor for KBIA Radio in Columbia, MO, and at WSPY Radio in Plano, IL as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.

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